Page 9 of Howling Love (Hunter’s Moon Ritual #1)

Ravik

Those eyes… They were gold, yes, but deeper. Burnished with sorrow, fractured with defiance just beneath the surface. Our gazes clashed. I refused to look away. The rest of the room disappeared as a glow seemed to rise from her skin, her aura pulsing with power. Divine. Eternal. Who was this woman?

A shock of red hair—striking, even pinned back—had me crossing the room without hesitation, needing to lock onto her scent so I could never forget it. Never forget her.

I ignored the greetings of the other territory leaders, rounding the table with one goal in mind—taking my place beside her. She tracked my approach, but the moment my chair scraped back, she flinched.

I froze. Confusion twisted in my chest.

Her eyes—so vibrant just moments ago—were now lowered. She ducked her head, hiding behind silence. How was that possible? She had to feel it—the same pull, the same recognition.

Mine .

“Ravik Gentry.” My name on his tongue was a violation.

I snapped my gaze up, a growl curling in my chest as I registered the man beside her—Alpha Ivan.

I narrowed my gaze on his amused expression and the way his hand was placed on the back of her chair.

As if she belonged to him. My wolf howled in response to that.

Impossible.

“Ivan.”

I wouldn’t call him Alpha— ever . My father hadn’t, and I planned on following suit.

The woman’s scent wrapped around me like a blanket of silk, vanilla twisted with cinnamon. My fists clenched. I couldn’t reach out and touch her—I couldn’t risk her flinching again.

“She draws attention, I’ll admit.” Ivan’s words were twisted with cruelty. “But trust me, she’s not worth your curiosity.”

The words made her physically shrink, recoiling as if she’d been hit. My eyes narrowed on the bastard. “I will decide what and who is worth my curiosity.”

Sitting down, I ignored Ivan and instead focused on the small woman next to me. She couldn’t have been more than 5’2”, and her silhouette, cloaked in thick material, seemed slight. Too small. She was absolutely beautiful, but certain details stood out to me—crimson flags of warning.

Bruises along the back of her neck, as if someone had been gripping there.

Her fingers were tinged with purple—faint blotches not yet healed.

Her body trembled as if she were trying to contain something, locking everything down in an attempt at practiced perfection.

Somehow I knew that if she looked at me, if I could see her face, I would see everything .

My wolf slammed against his cage, savage and bloodthirsty, demanding retribution. My hands curled into fists, ready to massacre whoever had dared break her like this.

“What’s your name, lux mea ?”

My light.

“ Lux mea ?” she echoed, her eyes darting up before her lips pressed tight, as if she hadn’t meant to speak at all. Luckily, Ivan was being entertained by some woman positioned between him and that sick twisted freak Graeme.

“ My light. ” I answered easily—because that is exactly what she was. A vibrant flame that Ivan was attempting to extinguish. I didn’t care who he thought she was to him. He was wrong.

A pink blush filled her cheeks, her shoulders relaxing as she turned toward me.

“You shouldn’t be calling me that,” she said quietly, her hands tightening and twisting in her lap.

“Then tell me your name,” I demanded softly.

“Gracie,” she whispered.

A name soft and sweet, but somehow perfectly hers.

“Gracie, look at me.” My voice was hoarse from the tension I was holding in my own frame.

She slowly drew her eyes up once more, a sparkle of magic playing in the golden iris.

The room buzzed with idle conversation, but none of it mattered.

Not when her voice was the only sound I cared about. “Do you belong to Ivan?”

Her eyes rounded and her lips parted. A breath, sharp and unsure, slipped out like a confession trapped beneath fear. “No. He has two mates. I…don’t belong anywhere.”

But she did. She absolutely fucking did—she belonged here, with me.

Gracie had answered my question, but she’d revealed far more.

A strong wave of protectiveness, of possessiveness, punched me in the gut as I fought the need to pull her onto my lap, to shelter her from the oppressive weight that was so obviously closing in on her.

“Why are you here?” I asked seriously. The question made her wince. I didn’t know the reason, but I would unearth it. I would figure out why she was so damn afraid.

“Ravik, it’s wonderful to see you.” A familiar voice on my other side drew my attention. Alpha Lacey Harrison sat on her own—her assistant, who was always next to her, notably gone.

I gave her a nod of greeting before looking back to Gracie, only to find her attention on Lacey as well. I tilted my head with curiosity, seeing something there. Annoyance? Frustration? She didn’t say anything, but her expression said a lot.

“It’s a shame your father couldn’t make it.

Alpha Deegan is always a joy to be around,” she continued, and I realized I was going to have to say something to the insufferable woman.

I wasn’t the only one who felt that way, either—almost everyone in the eight territories disliked her.

Not as much as they disliked Ivan, but still a fair amount.

“There’s a lot to handle back home,” I offered. “The transition of power is a responsibility he takes seriously.”

“Yes, I heard that,” she mused, taking a sip of wine. I knew that our host would be making a speech any minute here, and I really wanted to talk to Gracie more. Unfortunately, Lacey didn’t give a shit.

“I also heard he was sick. Is that true?”

I contained the defensive growl stuck in my throat and provided a forced yet polite smile. “No.”

Except that was a lie—one I didn’t mind telling. I was curious how she even knew that piece of information, considering how tight-lipped we were keeping it.

“Oh, good.” She sighed. “Where are the other two who are always by your side? I do enjoy that one…Basir, is it?”

“Busy.” My answers were growing sharper as I felt annoyance curl off of Gracie. I didn’t understand her reaction completely, and I wasn’t deluded enough to think she didn’t like me talking to Lacey for the same reasons I wouldn’t want her talking to another man.

Enough of Lacey Harrison. I turned back to Gracie and found her already watching me from beneath her lashes, her expression more open now that Ivan was across the room speaking to our host.

“I really shouldn’t be talking to you, especially when he’s around,” she expressed, her voice warm and delicate.

By The Eight, this woman was almost too much to be around. Everything about her was appealing, to the point that she was intoxicating. It was like Vorrakar had hand-crafted the perfect woman for me, forging her in his fires and placing her in front of me.

She continued, “I’m not trying to be rude, but I was told not to talk.”

“He told you not to talk?”

“To you and some others. I…I shouldn’t have even told you that.”

“Hey.” I captured her chin. At my touch, a shiver rolled over her, her eyes dilating as her wolf reached out to me. I nearly fucking forgot what I was going to say. “You can tell me anything, Gracie.”

The sound of a chair being yanked back had Gracie jumping away from me, nearly hurting herself in the process. Graeme chuckled from a few seats away as she shrank into herself. He’d done it on purpose. A vicious noise escaped from my throat, and my hand darted out to rest on Gracie’s lower back.

Graeme’s voice was harsh. “Don’t play with things that don’t belong to you, Ravik. Remember, your old man sent you here for business, not pleasure.”

Something about his words had Gracie’s brows knitting together as she leaned forward to escape my touch.

I loathed that. Some form of reality had destroyed the innate closeness and familiarity she’d felt toward me, and now I felt as though we were leagues apart.

I wouldn’t have another moment to correct it, either, as Ivan returned to his seat and the opening ceremonies began.

“Honored Alphas and esteemed delegates, on behalf of the Scarlet Sloth Territory, I welcome you to the Fifty-Third Thornfell Trade Conference.”

I looked for Basir and Thornar in the room, but I couldn’t find either.

I had no doubt they were doing their part in all this. After all, we were the only three representatives for the Ironsun Pack here—but with Gracie next to me, I needed another set of eyes on everything.

Alpha Kaliyah continued, “We are incredibly grateful for your presence and humbled to be selected to host this year’s gathering—especially in a season of reflection and harvest from a long year of work.

This year, we meet to not only discuss trade and treaty, but to reaffirm the alliances that unite Thornfell. ”

If this was Thornfell united, I feared what divided would look like.

I noticed Gracie seemed captivated by her words, and despite not knowing anything about her situation outside of rumors on how Alpha Ivan ran his pack, I got the distinct impression that she hadn’t been to an event like this.

Ever. It made me view the moment through a different lens.

“So let us speak not as rivals but as servants of our people, bound by the duty to make our territories and nation greater. Let us begin this conference with open minds and a shared desire for the growth of Thornfell.”

Polite applause and cheers sounded as people raised their glasses in toast, and the kitchen doors opened to serve food and drinks to those gathered.

Gracie’s head was moving around the room on a swivel, as if trying to take everything in, while nervously tapping her fingers against her lap. I wanted to place my much larger hand over them, to still the internal race in her head that I could see playing out.

I should have been focused on talking about steel contracts and expanding our mines, but all I could focus on was the way her eyes went wide in surprise at the food placed in front of her. She didn’t even move to touch her silverware at first.

“Eat.” Ivan’s words were a sharp directive, and I didn’t stop the rumble that escaped my chest this time. A massive smile grew on his face. He’d been waiting for that.

“If I’d known you had interest, Ravik, I would have considered you a potential option for her future,” he mused. Anger grew in my chest at his implication. “Then again, I would have assumed your father would be here. I suppose the old man probably couldn’t handle the travel though.”

Ivan’s jab didn’t faze me. He was less than a quarter of the man my father was, even in his current state.

“You know…” Ivan put down his silverware and leaned over Gracie, making her drop her bite of food before it even reached her mouth. “I could still arrange for something, maybe. Even if it’s just one night with my little pet here.”

Malice leaked from my response. “I suppose that answers my question on whether she’s here by choice. I’ve heard your pack is filled with women who aren’t offered any choices.”

Ivan chuckled, his eyes flashing with venom. “Maybe. Maybe not. That doesn’t really fucking matter since they belong to me.”

That was the issue—it did matter. Gracie mattered, and it was pretty damn clear why.

As Ivan went back to talking to Graeme, I kept my gaze on Gracie as she picked up her fork and took a hesitant bite of food, her body sinking against the chair to make herself as small as possible. I knew there was so much more to her, like a flame that was on the verge of being extinguished.

I wanted to watch her glow.

“Gracie—”

She flinched at the sound of her name, lifting her gaze with eyes rimmed in exhaustion.

“Please don’t,” she whispered. “Please leave it alone…leave me alone.”

Gracie didn’t realize that wasn’t a possibility.

I couldn’t walk away from lux mea .